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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. tube — a container
  6. craft — a skill
  7. pass — a permit
  8. degree — from a university
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. drill — army training
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — a video
  13. drill — the tool
  14. drill — a practice
  15. clip — to cut
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. tube — the underground
  18. degree — temperature
  19. craft — boats
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. kid — child
  22. degree — an amount
  23. kid — to tease
  24. racket — for tennis

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com